


Sponsors Charming

by EllanaSan



Series: Tumblr Prompts [12]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M, Tumblr Prompt, mention of dubious non-con, mention of prostitution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-28
Updated: 2014-02-28
Packaged: 2018-01-14 02:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1249522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllanaSan/pseuds/EllanaSan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Original Prompt : I kind of want story following this young Finnick where Effie sees him going with one of his clients and Effie tries to talk to him on one of the reunions before the games and he snaps at her telling her she is like everyone else on the capitol and just want a f*** with him and Haymitch see this and tries to confort a really emotional Effie…</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sponsors Charming

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Akachankami for the beta

Effie didn’t like what she was seeing in the sponsors lounge. There was “sponsors charming” and “sponsors _charming”_ and what Finnick was actually doing with Augustus Rumple’s wife was actually falling more into that second category. Nerilla Rumple had a reputation and Effie wasn’t comfortable at all with the way she was looking at the boy. She looked like a wild beast about to pounce on a piece of meat. She searched the crowd for Mags but didn’t see her anywhere… District Four escort, too, was nowhere to be found.

Leaving Haymitch at his fruitless discussion with two sponsors and two other victors, she marched towards Finnick and Nerilla. She liked the boy a lot. He was only sixteen but he always made the effort of being polite and even courteous to her, which was more than any other victor ever did. Given that Haymitch and Chaff had taken a liking to the boy, he was always trailing behind them and it fell down to her to make sure he didn’t drink more than a glass of alcohol and didn’t find himself in troubles because of those two stupid men. She liked to think they were on friendly terms. She certainly felt responsible for the boy when District Four escort wasn’t around to look out for him. He was younger than most mentors, after all.

“My apologies.” She interrupted Nerilla mid-sentence and didn’t sound apologetic at all. It wasn’t that serious an offense. Nerilla would never consider sponsoring District Twelve, anyway. “Finnick, may I have a word?”

She was expecting a smile but Finnick’s face was stern and a little hostile. “I don’t really have time, right now, Effie.”

“Go ahead.” Nerilla said sweetly, looking Effie up and down and clearly not being very impressed with what she was seeing. “Don’t take too long, though, dear. The car is waiting outside. I will be by the elevators.”

“What do you want?” Finnick hissed, once the woman was out of earshot.

Oh, it was bad. The poor boy obviously didn’t know what he was walking in. “You are _not_ going out with that woman.” Effie stated. Nerilla collected affairs with victors like Effie collected shoes: compulsively and not caring who she might hurt in the process. “You have to be really careful what sort of people you associate yourself with, Finnick. Let me deal with Nerilla and we can…”

“We can what?” the boy laughed bitterly which shocked her into silence. That was the kind of laugh she would expect from Haymitch or Chaff but not sweet little Finnick. “Do you want to have a go too, Effie?” He had raised his voice slightly and she could feel several pair of eyes turning their way, gossips would start to spread in a few seconds she was sure of it, but she was more concerned with the accusation thrown her way. “Well? Is that it? Do you want to rent a room maybe?”

She opened and closed her mouth, feeling hurt, angry and confused. She was ten years older than him, if anything she regarded him as a younger brother, to be accused of... of… “Don’t be ridiculous!” she said at last. “That’s preposterous!”

There was a wild glint in Finnick’s eyes. Had he been drinking? Had he taken anything stronger than alcohol? There were more than one kind of drugs going around… Had Nerilla given him something? She wouldn’t put anything past that horrid woman…

“Is it?” he said, lower. “Because I’m beginning to think all you Capitol people want is a piece of my ass.”

“Finnick!” she exclaimed, shocked.

“What’s going on, here?” Haymitch cut in, placing a hand on the small of her back. “Not that I care but everyone is looking at you so smile and stop shouting, people.”

“What’s going on!” she whispered angrily, keeping his comment in mind. “Nerilla is trying to seduce Finnick and I think he’s intoxicated, _that’s_ what’s going on.”

Haymitch’s face grew somber, he and Finnick exchanged a look she didn’t understand at all.

“Go.” he said. “Don’t make her wait any longer.”

“What? Are you mad?” Effie grabbed Finnick’s arm before he could go anywhere but the boy shook her hand off angrily.

“If you want to fuck me that much, Effie, take an appointment.” Finnick growled.

“Would you stop with those ridiculous…”

“Finnick, go.” Haymitch cut her off. “You, come with me.”

He didn’t actually give her a choice in that. He blocked her arm under his and forced her to walk arm-in-arm with him.

“What are you doing?” she hissed. “We can’t let…”

“Sweetheart, if you ever trusted me at any point in your life, shut up, _now_.” he snapped, leading her through the room.

“But…” She could feel tears beginning to gather behind her eyes. “The things he said to me… It was… It was very upsetting.”

His thumb stroked her skin discreetly but he didn’t say anything else. He steered them toward a group of victors in a corner: Seeder, Chaf, two other from Two she had never been introduced to. They all made small talk but she stayed silent most of the conversation, focusing on not making a spectacle of herself by bursting into tears in the middle of a sponsoring reunion and also worrying about Finnick who was certainly going to fall for Nerilla’s fake fondness. He was _so_ young, so innocent…

Some people came and went into their little group, Haymitch made a point of laughing with some of them and talking a lot more than he usually did. He also went easy on the liquor, she noticed because he kept waving his empty glass around while he talked and it ended up in front of her face more often than not.

Dinner time couldn’t come soon enough as far as she was concerned. She had never been so happy to leave one of those reunion. She was even more happy to see she would have a hour to herself before their tribute came back from training.

“You’ve been very quiet.” Haymitch said, once they were alone in the elevator.

“You’ve been very sober.” she shot back, folding her arms in front of her chest in a parody of a hug.

Instead of getting angry, though, he just looked at her with sadness. “You’re still upset.”

“Of course I’m still upset.” She stepped out of the elevator and waved off the Avox offering a tray with drinks on it. Haymitch, of course, immediately seized a glass full of a dark brown liquid that could only be whiskey. “I just don’t understand why he would say something like that. I thought we were good friends. I’m worried about him. Nerilla is… He’s so young! She will take advantage and break his heart. And anyway… He’s too young! You know what she’s like!”

He closed the living-room door behind them. She was a little surprised he hadn’t interrupted her mid-rant. He did that a lot.

“Oh, yeah, I do know what she’s like” He sipped his drink slowly. “She was already here ten years ago.”

He slumped on the couch and tapped the cushion beside him, probably indicating that she should sit with him in his rude and bad mannered way, but she was too stunned to move. “ _You_ had an affair with Nerilla?”

Was there _a_ _single_ male victor she hadn’t had an affair with?

“I wouldn’t call it an affair.” He wrinkled his nose in obvious displeasure. “Point is, sweetheart, when Nerilla wants something, you don’t stand in her way.”

“Finnick is too young.” She crossed her arms angrily and stared down at him. “How can you not see my point, here? He’s _sixteen_ , he’s too young for… the kind of things Nerilla will ask of him. That’s _indecent_ and _improper_.”

He rubbed his eyes tiredly. “How wealthy are you?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” she said, walking up and down the length of the room nervously. She should do something. It was not right to stay there and do nothing while…

“Why do you always answer my questions with another question?” He sounded annoyed.

“Because your questions are always rude, that’s why.” She wondered if she should go back to the elevator and pop for a visit on the fourth floor. Maybe Mags would be more inclined to listen to her than Haymitch. She loved the boy dearly, everyone knew that.

“Average? A little above average? Come on, Princess.” Haymitch insisted. “Is Daddy influent or not?”

She knew from experience he wouldn’t let it go so she sighed. “My family is well off but we’re not _that_ wealthy compared to others and I wouldn’t say my father is particularly influent, no. I made quite a lot of money when I was modeling, though.” She added that last part with some pride.

“Not as wealthy as the likes of Nerilla, in short.” He made the whiskey twirl around in his glass. “Don’t set your eyes on something you can’t afford when people with money and power desire it, that’s common sense.”

She stopped pacing, horrified. “Are you saying she was trying to coerce Finnick into doing something he wasn’t comfortable with?”  

Haymitch closed his eyes briefly. “I’m saying I know you were trying to help but stay out of it before _you_ get hurt. Don’t go around annoying that kind of people if you don’t have the guns to shot back with.”

“But…” She was beginning to connect the dots and she didn’t like the picture it was drawing. “It’s not right. We should report her.”

“Effie, you can’t be _that_ naïve.” He was beginning to get annoyed with her, she could see it. “How long have you been an escort, now? You must know what goes on behind closed door.” It was probably written on her face that she obviously didn’t because he sighed and put his half-empty glass on the coffee table. “Victors are available for a price. You want one, any of them, you pay, that’s as simple as that. Every sponsor knows it.”

Her knees weakened and she felt the need to sit down. “That’s prostitution.” she said, calmly, once she was settled beside him. He didn’t say anything but put a hand on her leg and squeezed gently. “Finnick is _so_ young. It’s… It’s not right, Haymitch. None of this is.” She could feel tears rolling down her cheeks and dabbed at them quickly with her gloved fingers. There would be a stain but she was hardly going to worry about that now. “And the things he said about me… Does he really believe that? Does he really…”

“No.” he promised, squeezing her leg again comfortingly. “He’s still new to that kind of things. He still cares. He was angry and frustrated. You’re his friend, he knows that.”

“That’s unfair.” She said again and, that time, she couldn’t refrain a sob.

“Welcome to my world, sweetheart.” he mocked, but he opened his arms a little hesitantly and she accepted his embrace willingly. She needed a friend right now and Haymitch gave great hugs. He engulfed her in his arms and she clang to him, burrowing her face in his shoulder.

She was trying to devise a way to help Finnick out of his predicament when something downed on her and she leaned back a little to look at him properly. “Did they force you to do that too?” It was a stupid question. They obviously did, he had practically admitted as much when he had talked about Nerilla – that vile woman! She would gladly rip her eyes off.

“Does it matter?” He tried to sound detached but he didn’t let her go and she held him even tighter. “I’m too expensive for you anyway, sweetheart.”

She frowned, a little hurt. She knew he was only joking but… “I would never do that. To anyone.”

“I know.” he replied softly before giving her one of his familiar smirks. “And I would never make you pay. Lucky you.”

She rolled her eyes but rested her head on his shoulder once again.

“Don’t do that again.” He warned her, in a low voice, after a few minutes. “You nearly caused a scene today. Nerilla is a real bitch. That’s dangerous.”

“I can handle myself.” She had been navigating that kind of dramas all her life. It was all about saying the right thing to the right people…

“Don’t make me worry about you, Effie.” That’s how she knew he was being extremely serious. He hardly ever called her by her first name otherwise. “There’s a thin line between victors and escorts and about a thousand ways to hurt or control someone.”

What he was implying made her shiver in horror. “I understand.”

His arms tightened around her. “Good.”

“We should check on the children. They must have come up by now.” she sighed but didn’t move right away. She felt exhausted.

“You go. I want another drink before dinner.” But he didn’t move either.

They stayed like that for the longest time, just nested against the other, not even talking… And then, the female tribute opened the door – without knocking, which was absolutely bad manners – and Effie bolted away from Haymitch guiltily. The girl seemed torn between amusement and disgust. Haymitch pretended not to notice anything and grabbed the whole bottle of liquor but, for once, Effie didn’t reproach him his excessive drinking. If she had been given a choice, she would have done exactly the same thing.

She wished there was a way for her to forget the whole ordeal.

 


End file.
